It's a Wonderful Life Mrs Richards
by Oparu
Summary: On Christmas Eve, 1999 the end of the show Olivia makes a simple wish.
1. Chapter 1

Olivia Richards lifted her bottle of vodka to refill her glass and stopped. Though she continued to pour, watching the clear liquid run down the edge of the counter and pour onto the stone floor of her living room, her mind wasn't in it.

What was the point? No matter how much she drank, no matter how much she tried to drive herself into dreamless sleep, her past haunted her. It was all around her. The ornaments on the Christmas tree were a hundred tiny reminders. The little gingerbread man in her hand from Sean. He'd been barely four when he'd made it. His first Christmas present to her.

The ballerina in her perfect pink tutu was Caitlin's. Gregory bought it for her at the Nutcracker in Moscow. "Tchiakovski isn't Tchiakovski unless you see it in Russia." Gregory promised her before packing up the whole family for a whirlwind trip behind the Iron Curtain.

The Cold War wouldn't stop Gregory. Nothing stopped Gregory.

Until Cole. Until he'd run out on that pier and fallen to his death fighting with Cole.

"I knew Cole was going to be the death of you. I knew if you couldn't stop this feud, you'd end up being hurt." The gently glowing Christmas tree watched her tears silently.

They were bitter as they crossed her lips. "I never thought you'd-" Olivia paused, her throat had suddenly become too tight to speak. "I never imagined a Christmas without you. Without you and our children.

Her hands trembled as she hung the porcelain gingerbread man on the tree. "Without Sean, and Caitlin..." The lump in her throat caught Trey's name and refused to let it pass. Her baby. Her little boy who'd never know her as anything more than the vaguest of memories. Because she wasn't good enough. She was a drunk. A pathetic, washed up drunk who deserved to be alone.

She'd driven everyone away. Caitlin wouldn't let her be with Trey. Sean wouldn't stay and watch her drink herself to death. Gregory-

Gregory was dead. He couldn't able to gloat that she was destroying herself again. He couldn't able to pour her another drink and smile that self-satisfied, hateful little smile. He couldn't tear her clothes off and remind her body that there were reasons to be alive. There were pleasures in life.

Olivia's brimming glass of vodka splashed on her wrist as she lifted it to her lips. The vapor attacked her nose. If she drank enough the pain would be gone. If she just kept drinking, she could drown in it.

Drown. Like Gregory drowned on the end of the pier. Cold black water would close over her head. Her limbs would go numb, her breath would burn in her lungs and her heart would pound in her ears.

Then it would all be over. No more pain. no more empty Christmas' in a silent house. She knew what she had to do.

Far down the beach, Olivia reached the end of the pier. An eternity beneath her, the waves crashed around the pilings of the pier. The water seemed to whisper up to her. To promise the kind of peace she'd never have in this life.

"I destroyed everyone I loved." Tears came hard and fast, but her throat was finally clear. "I couldn't hold onto Gregory and he died. I ruined my children's lives so utterly that they stole my baby from me. My lover moved on to my best friend." She almost laughed.

"Maybe they would have gotten married years ago if it wasn't for me." Her hands clung to the wood of the railing as she climbed over it. Her bare feet complained of the rough wood as she stopped. She'd been here before. On the cruise ship before AJ had dragged her back in.

"You'd have the woman you really loved AJ, instead of wasting your time with me." She tensed her fingers, wondering if she'd feel the smack of the water. "My children would have had a real mother. Someone who could love them." Her feet were so white they glowed against the water below her.

"Gregory would still be alive, if his wife had been better. If she had stopped him from destroying himself with his evil plans. If I-"

Olivia stopped and felt a weight lift from her shoulders. That was it.

"If I had never been born."

Turning her head to the cloudy sky, Olivia started to release the railing behind her. "I wish I had never been born."

She teetered for a moment, balancing precariously on the edge as her fingers let her go.

"Help me!" The voice called behind her.

Olivia jumped, her feet slipping but her hands closed down on the railing with iron in her fingers.

"Please-" The voice, the woman's voice grew more desperate. "I can't hold on."

Confused, Olivia whirled around. Part of the railing down the pier a few meters was broken. Two hands clung to the deck, but the fingers were starting to slide.

"Please-" She begged again.

Olivia climbed back over. Her robe caught and tore from her shoulders as she ran down the pier. Lying on her stomach, she slid over to the edge. The woman's hands closed in desperation around her wrists.

She was sobbing below her. She was desperate to live. She foolishly wanted to live.

"Can you put your feet on the brace?" Olivia asked softly, wondering where her bravery had come from. "You might be able to climb up."

The hands tore at her arms, but the sounds of scrambling feet gave way to a gasp of triumph. The unknown woman found a place for her weight, and somehow they both tumbled back on the deck. the sound of their breathing was louder than even the waves for a moment.

The skin of Olivia's bare arms was torn. Blood oozed from the scratches, but she felt better somehow. Her stomach would be bruised, her left arm might even need stitches on one long, cruel slash, but she was all right.

The other woman had on only a simple white dress. Her long brown hair tumbled over tan shoulders. She turned to Olivia with a smile on her tear-stained face.

"Thank you. Oh thank you." She caught Olivia up in an impulsive hug. "I don't know what I would have done without you. I was just walking, and I stopped to lean on the rail and it collapsed."

There was something strangely familiar in her voice. Something Olivia couldn't quite place. She waited for the stranger to release her. As she looked into her face, Olivia nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Francesca!"

Francesca smiled sadly as Olivia pulled away in terror. "I'm afraid so." She glanced heavenward and sighed. "Are you sure I have to do this?"

Olivia watched in shock as the woman she'd seen dead brushed off her white sundress and smiled up at the cloudy sky.

"Olivia Blake Richards, wether you like it or not, I am your-" She lowered her hand to help Olivia to her feet.

Olivia just stared at her hand dumbly, as if it was about to bite her.

"Guardian angel." Francesca finished as she reached down at took Olivia's shoulders to drag her to her feet.

"I'm drunk." Olivia whispered.

"True." Francesca pointed out as she brushed dirt from Olivia's nightgown. "But, that's not the problem. Your wish has been granted, you have been removed from this Earth. You have, in affect, been entirely erased. You, Olivia Blake Richards, have never been born." Her smile widen in amusement. "This could be a lot of fun."

"Ma'am-" A young man ran up to her. A policeman, Officer Spencer her mind informed her. "Are you all right?"

Olivia looked down at herself. She was a wreck. Her nightgown was stained with blood, her left arm was dripping onto the pier, her robe was behind her, torn to shreds on that spare nail.

He grabbed her shoulder. "Ma'am?"

Francesca ran her hand lazily through her hair. "Tell him you were mugged. You couldn't sleep, you went for a walk-"

Olivia looked at her, trying to figure out why Officer Spencer didn't see Francesca. She was a dead woman, he should be running in fear. He looked right through Francesca as she repeated herself.

"tell him-"

Olivia's voice startled herself. "I went for a walk, I couldn't sleep. I must have gotten mugged-" She stumbled slightly, surprising herself.

"Let me take you to the Medical Center." Officer Spencer took her hand and stopped asking her questions. Francesca followed along amiably.

When Officer Spencer left her alone to talk find a doctor in the little medical center, Olivia turned to her 'angel'. "He can't see you."

Francesca shook her head. "Only you can."

"He didn't recognize me." Olivia whispered as she held his handkerchief to her bleeding arm. "Doesn't he?"

"You were never born." Francesca pointed out again with surprising patience. "He never had the chance to know you. No one has."

"Hi- I'm Dr.-"

Olivia stood up quickly. "Robinson, Tyus Robinson." She smiled at the good doctor, but he just looked confused.

"I'm sorry. Have we met?"

Francesca shook her head behind him. "Say no. Stop confusing the poor man."

"No- no, I'm sorry." Olivia blushed slightly and looked around for a plausible explanation. "I've just seen your name in the paper."

Tyus seemed to take that response in stride. "Well come on, let's see what we can do for your arm."

After it was numb, he began the slow process of stitching it up. "What are you doing in Sunset Beach Mrs-" He paused and gave her his polite smile again. "I don't think I caught your name."

The 'Mrs' stuck in her mind. Olivia's eyes chased down her arm to her left hand. She still wore Gregory's ring. After he died, she just couldn't part with it.

"Olivia R-" She stopped. She wasn't Olivia Richards. She'd never been born, Gregory couldn't have married her.

"Olivia Blake." She answered softly as she tried to keep her eyes away from his needle.

"Are you in town to see family?"

In the corner of the room, unseen by the doctor, Francesca clapped her hands and nodded. "Tell him yes."

"Yes-" Olivia offered simply. "Old friends as well." She couldn't help noticing that though the clinic looked as she remembered it, Tyus looked tired. Drained. His shirt beneath his white lab coat was clean but threadbare. As if it had been washed and ironed a few too many times.

"Will you be going back to your hotel?"

Francesca leaned over his shoulder. "How can you? You don't exist."

"No- I'm staying with friends."

Tyus tied off his handiwork and wrapped a light bandage around her arm. "Try to keep this dry and stop back in a few days so I can take the stiches out."

Olivia nodded and smiled at him gratefully, she stood up and her bare feet complained at the temperature of the floor.

"If you don't mind me intruding- you're not dressed for the weather. Even a California Christmas is a little too cool for that dress." Tyus dropped his tools into a tray of sanitizer. "Do you have luggage?"

"Oh no-" Olivia began softly. She licked her lips as she tried to come up with an explanation. "I'm afraid I misplaced my luggage. I was walking to the hotel when the mugger got what I had left."

He looked down at her feet in surprise, but he said nothing. "I think I can get you some things from the hospital stores. We keep some clothes around, just in case."

Olivia smiled gratefully, warmth creeping up her body for the first time in a long while. "Thank you doctor. It's nice to know Sunset Beach has such a kind man caring for it's people."

He led her out to the waiting room. "I'm glad you think so. I'm afraid not everyone shares your opinion. This whole clinic is going to be demolished on the first of January to make way for a new Medical Center."

"Oh really?" Olivia asked as she took a cup of hot cider from a volunteer with another little smile.

Francesca giggled and covered her mouth, as if she didn't want to spoil the surprise.

"The Richards Medical Center." Tyus offered with surprising disgust. He opened a closet and pulled out a simple pair of khaki pants. "Offering the finest medical care to anyone who can afford it." A plain grey t-shirt and a hooded sweatshirt followed.

Olivia smiled at the clothes. It had been awhile since she'd worn anything like it, but he was offering it all so freely.

"I'm afriad I don't have any shoes." He added a pair of black cotton socks to the pile. "You're what, a size 8?"

Olivia nodded as she held the clothes to her chest. "How'd you guess?"

Tyus shrugged. "You're about the same height as the wife of our new Executive Administrator and I know she keeps a spare pair in his office." That unfamiliar bitterness was back in his voice. "Our little hospital is too pathetic for her to dirty her good shoes on its floors. I'll be right back. You can change in here. No one will bother you."

Francesca politely turned around as Olivia changed, but she couldn't help noticing that her unlikely angel was giggling again.

Olivia pulled her hair free from the t-shirt. "What's so funny?"

"The Adminstrator's wife would have a fit if she knew he was stealing her shoes for a vagabond like you." Francesca's explanation left a lot to be desired, but Olivia knew she wasn't going to get much from her.

She buttoned up her pants and asked the question that had been on her mind since the pier. "How did someone like you end up an angel? Let alone my guardian angel?"

Francesca's smile suddenly turned serious. "Forgiveness." She began simply. "Heaven is big on forgiveness, righting the wrongs of life. I hurt you in life, so in death I have to protect you until I earn my wings."

"Your wings?" Olivia zipped the front of her sweatshirt and suspended her disbelief.

"Angels, real angels have beautiful wings." Francesca's hands flew wide and her eyes gleamed with hope. "Huge beautiful wings, like you always knew angels had to have." Her glee faded as she touched her own bare shoulders. "But they have to be earned. through selfless acts of kindness and-" She paused for a moment, as if she knew Olivia was about to laugh. "Love."

Olivia bit her lip and kept her amusement down to a cough. "Love?"

"What binds the world together." Francesca's eyes softened and she sighed heavily. "You're lucky you know. Most people don't get a second chance while they're still alive. Most people have to wait until they're dead to know how important they really were. How much they gave the world."

Tyus' polite knock kept her from getting to ask anymore questions. "I borrowed these from Mrs. Davis. She shouldn't miss them, and you certainly need them more than she does."

Olivia took the shoes from him, recognizing the label inside as one of the most expensive designers in Milan. She gave him the most heartfelt smile she could muster. "Thank you doctor."

After she'd tied the laces, Olivia looked up at him in sadness. "I'm afraid I have no way to thank you. And no way to pay you."

He lifted her bloody nightgown and dumped it into the trash. "Be careful on the pier. Get something to eat. Remember Christmas is about hope. Because there's always, always hope-" His hand touched her shoulder as he tucked something into the pocket of her sweatshirt. In the moment their eyes met she understood more about his heart than she'd ever known when he helped her through her pregnancy. He knew why she'd been there. He knew why she didn't have anything or anywhere to go, and despite it all. He wanted her to live. A complete stranger.

She surprised him and herself by kissing his cheek. "Merry Christmas Dr. Robinson."

Olivia fled the clinic as Francesca followed like a shadow. "That was sweet of you."

"He didn't have to care about me." Olivia replied as she stared down the faintly lit street. "He didn't have to, but he did without hesitation."

Her stomach growled and Francesca pointed to her pocket. "He gave you fifty dollars. Let's find you some breakfast."

"How can it be morning?" Olivia wondered as she found the neatly folded bills in her pocket. "It was just-"

"It's morning on Christmas Eve. You have until Christmas Day to decide if you'd like to live." Francesca explained as she pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Now, where should we get breakfast?"

"Elaine's I suppose." Olivia started down the street towards the waffle shop. "Although I bet her waffle's are still inedible, even in this mixed up little world."

Francesca shrugged, looked decidely unangelic as she studied her fingernails. "Something's just are. No matter what happens."


	2. familiar strangers

Christmas Eve was just as cloudy as it had been when she'd taken this detour out of reality. Elaine's was just around the corner. Though the sign in the window bravely said announce that it was open, a sign in the window just next to it advertised.

"The New Sunset Cafe. Oceanfront dining with the taste of the new world and all the class of the old. Coming in January, 2000." Next to that was a beautifully rendered drawing of neatly dressed patrons eating on a beautiful veranda. The charm of Elaine's little shop was gone.

Olivia barely looked over the advertisement. What did it matter? What caught her eye was the logo in the bottom right corner.

Richards Development Corporation. The same as the Hospital. The bell over the door rang as she entered. The cafe was deserted. Olivia was worried the door had been left open by accident when a cheerful voice called from behind the counter.

"I'll be right with you. Just need to get the stove in order." Olivia made her way to the counter, feeling the money in her pocket. Fifty dollars was nothing. She used to watch her husband spend ten times that on a bottle of wine. But it was all she had in this new world. All she had to make it through the day.

"It's all right." Olivia called cheerfully as Francesca took the stool next to her at the counter. "I'm not in any hurry."

"Are you sure you're in the right town?" The voice from the kitchen teased as a bang and a whoosh announced that revival of the stove. "Everyone in Sunset Beach is in a hurry now. Tearing things down and making ready for the new world order."

A man's hand set a cup in front of her and filled it with coffee. "It's a wonder they aren't changing the name as well. Richardsville. Richardsbeach."

"Richardshell." Elaine emerged from the kitchen looking older than Olivia had ever seen her. Her hair was streaked with gray, and her face told the tale of a harsh life. "The sunny little paradise that looks like every other resort in the world."

Olivia could barely take her eyes off her. Elaine had been to the hell she was describing. Been there and lived there all too long. The waiter coughed on the other side of the counter. "Don't mind mom, she's just upset that Mr. Richards bought us out."

When Elaine disappeared into the kitchen, Olivia turned her eyes to her waiter. The handsome young man waiting for her to decide was Cole. He had the same smile, and the same dimples. She gasped and nearly fell off her stool.

Cole laughed shyly. "Do I look like someone you know?"

Olivia gulped. Francesca leaned in to whisper, "Without you Del couldn't steal him as a baby. He's spent his whole life with his mother."

Olivia shook her head and forced herself to smile. The poor boy looked so uncomfortable. "I knew your father once. Long ago. AJ Deschanel, isn't it?"

Cole nodded and grinned sheepishly. "I'm told I look just like him. Mom says-" He leaned in to share the secret. "You have to get her in a good mood to tell the story nowadays, but she says I look just like him and his father. That's there's a legend. My grandfather met the lady in black at sunset and fell in love. Their love built this town."

He wiped the counter off with an old but clean looking rag. His jewel-thief confidence was gone. Olivia wondered if he'd even be able to talk to a girl he found pretty. He could barely meet her gaze. "Not that there's much of that left."

Francesca elbowed her as she spun in lazy circles on her stool. "Ask him about his family."

"Why do you say that?" Olivia asked softly. She folded her hands around her coffee cup. "I'm sorry. I was in Sunset Beach once before, and it feels like it was another planet-"

Cole shrugged and his blush faded a little. "Probably was. Mom says it was a happy town once. When she's happy she tells lovely stories of my father taking her for walks up and down the beach."

"Where is he now? Your father?"

Cole's face fell. She'd never seen him look so downtrodden. "Tell you what, you tell me what you'd like for breakfast, and I'll tell you the whole story."

Olivia nodded quickly. She was dying to know about AJ.

"It's not going to be what you think." Francesca warned gently as she wandered over to a painting of the pier.

"How about an omelet? Nothing fancy, let your mother surprise me." Olivia told him with a wink. "I think she can still do that."

Cole returned and refilled her coffee. Then he settled his elbows on the counter. "When my father came to Sunset Beach, he fell in love immediately with my mother. Their affair led to my conception, but his mother wouldn't hear of him marrying someone like my mom. She just wasn't Deschanel material. My father-" Cole's eyes gleamed with pride.

"Said it didn't matter. He loved her and that was final. He left his fortune and married my mother. They built this little cafe." He trailed off and Olivia almost didn't want to ask for the end of the story.

"What happened?"

"I was just a little boy when he got sick." Cole's good cheer faded away. "We never had a lot of money, mom wanted to write to his mother and ask for money, but dad wouldn't hear of it. If she didn't want my mom, she didn't want him, as far as he was concerned."

"If Mr. Richards' new medical center had been around, do you think it would have helped him?" Olivia wondered aloud as she wiped a tear from her eye. AJ was dead but he'd been with his son. Elaine was tired, but she'd been with the man she loved. Wasn't that better than barely knowing him? Than watching Gregory try to drive him out of town?

Cole shook his head sadly. "We'd never be able to afford it. I know we'd never be able to afford competing with Mr. Richards' new restaurants. That's why we had to sell. It's not much. Mom thinks we should have gotten more but she was visiting Ricardo and I'm never been good at negociating."

Olivia could picture Gregory destroying this young man in an argument. "Where is Ricardo?"

Cole looked at her in shock. He thought everyone had heard of the trial. "He's in prison. Gabi said he raped her two years ago. The DA gunned him down and Ricardo got the maximum. Mom never believed he could have done it. She thinks he's innocent even now. Always visits him, she's even off to the prison today, on Christmas Eve."

Cole set a steaming omelet in front of her with two pieces of thick toast. "My sister never could forgive him. She transferred to San Diego and we haven't seen her much. Blames mom for taking Ricardo's side."

Attacking her omelet, Olivia nearly burned her tongue. She hadn't realized she was so hungry.

Cole winked at her. "Not bad, huh?" He filled her coffee again and gave her a concerned look as her sleeve revealed the bandage on her arm.

"What happened to you?"

"Would you believe I got mugged?" Olivia offered softly between bites of her omelet. "Lost my luggage on a plane and got mugged as soon as I landed."

Cole picked up the check he had just set on the counter and tore it up. "That's terrible. Absolutely terrible. Now I am glad I'm leaving this god-forsaken town. Let Mr. Richards build his picture perfect little village. I hope the muggers enjoy the rich bastards who come through."

Olivia's eyes widened as she set down her fork. "I can pay for this. Really I-' She pulled the bundle of money from her pocket.

Cole pushed it aside. "It's Christmas. You need it more than I do." He looked her over and suddenly looked older than she'd ever seen him. "Especially if your business in Sunset Beach takes you anywhere near Gregory Richards."

He stuffed the pieces of her check into the garbage. "Mom says if Ebenezer Scrooge was alive today, he'd be envious of Gregory Richards. No one has Christmas spirit than that man."

Olivia looked to Francesca. "Is it true?"

Cole thought she was talking to him. "You know how the poem goes. 'But I think that the most likely reason of all, may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.'"

Smiling softly as she remembered reading that to Caitlin and Sean on christmas, Olivia nodded.

"I think in Mr. Richards' case it's more than two sizes." Cole left her to muse as he ducked back into the kitchen.

"The Grinch was redeemed." Olivia reminded Francesca as she finished her omelet. "His heart grew three sizes."

"Suess is an optimist." Francesca pointed out firmly. "This is reality. Come on. There are a few more people you need to see before you tackle the Grinch."

Olivia left the counter. She started to leave, but then stopped. She couldn't just let Cole and Elaine suffer. She had to be able to do something. She bit her lip and her hand rested on her neck a moment. She was still wearing her pearl necklace. The one she'd had on last night, in her reality.

It wasn't her finest piece of jewelry, but it might get them off to a better start in their new home. Wherever it was. Olivia removed her necklace and borrowed a pen from the cup next to the register.

"Take care of your mother. And Merry Christmas to you both." She set the necklace on the note and disappeared from the Waffle shop.

Francesca was grinning at her. "How sweet."

Olivia shot her a dirty look. "They needed it more than I did."

Francesca eyed her engagement ring. "That would have been worth more."

Olivia covered the huge diamond with her hand. "Maybe I'm not ready to get rid of it yet."

Laughing softly, Francesca pointed down the street. "I think we should go to the Deep next. Learn a little bit more about Gregonezer Scrooge before we confront him."

"Why the Deep?" Olivia wondered as she passed some harried shoppers on the street. "You're probably just going to show me that Ben Evans died years ago and Gregory's taken it over."

Francesca tossed her hair over her shoulders and shrugged playfully. "Not everyone's dead like dear AJ." She danced out of the way of a man laden with shopping bags and balanced on the edge of the curb. "You're just smarting because without you, he lived a life of love with Elaine and actually knew his darling son."

"I told you the world is better off without me." As much as she argued, Olivia couldn't help noticing the signs in every shop window.

Richards Development Corporation.

The little shops, the quaint stores for which the Sunset Beach had been known in her world, were all shutting down. Clearance signs were red in every window. The shopkeepers, some of whom she had known for years in another land, were saddened as they waved their patrons out into the sunshine.

"I doubt that is true for anyone." Francesca waved at a little girl who for some reason knew enough to smile at her. "We all change the world in a thousand ways beyond our knowing."

Olivia snorted. "When did you become a philospher?"

Francesca stopped grinning at the toddler girl and titled her head seriously for a moment. "Death changes a person. Your darling ex-husband saw to that."

Jogging to catch up to her invisible companion, Olivia caught her shoulder and turned her around. Oblivious to how strange it much look to the people on the sidewalks around her. "Don't you resent him for ending your life? Or me for failing to-"

"To what?" Francesca smiled that cryptic smile. "To stop Gregory?" Her deep eyes grew sad for a moment. "You have been one of the few who could at least make him halt his hand. Perhaps for that alone you should live."

Olivia looked away. Life was still too bitter for her taste. "At least here my children didn't suffer from my faults."

"Didn't suffer at all really." Francesca observed as she made her way through the throng. A woman crashed into Olivia, taking her from her feet without so much as a whisper of apology. Knocked back hard, it took her more than a moment to regain her equilibrium. No one would have dared collide with her in the world she had left. She had been the Queen of Sunset Beach. The woman who commanded as much fear as she did respect. Now she was nothing. A stranger in borrowed clothes.

The hands that caught her arms were strong and caring as they brought her back to her feet. "You should be careful ma'am No one's as polite as they ought to be anymore." Her rescuer's eyes were kind, but like everyone else she met, that light shone from an exhausted face. Casey Mitchum, the sweet young man who called Alex his mother, made sure she was clean and unhurt before he released her.

"Thank you Casey."

He paused, genuinely confused she knew his name. He looked all right, well dressed and clean, but the exhaustion had crept into his face as well. "I'm sorry. Have we met?"

Olivia licked her lips as she tried to correct her error. "I know your mother." Alex was a bright spot in the old world, certainly she was that here as well. Perhaps without her Alex had even married Gregory. Were Sean and Caitlin her children then?

"My mother?" Casey paused for a moment. Then sorrow shadowed his face. "I'm sorry, you must not have heard, I hate to be the one to tell you-" His left hand brushed a quiet tear from his eye. "She died two years ago. Mr. Richards-" His tone grew strained by his effort. "Tried to find her the best doctors he could buy. I think, out of all the peple in this world, she was one of the few he really cared about."

"I'm so sorry." Alex too was gone then. What hope she had that Gregory had found any peace in this world sank cold into her stomach. "I didn't know-"

Casey lifted his bundle of flowers from the street at his feet. His hands were bare. He too was alone in this world. "It's all right. I'm off to see her today. To tell her she still doesn't have a grandchild, but perhaps-"

"You're young yet." She felt her lips curl in a grin. "I think you still have time for that."

He blushed. His heart was still light enough for that. "Perhaps in the next city."

"You're leaving?" Olivia felt a surprising pang in her chest.

He shifted the bundle of lilies in his hands, freeing some of their sweetness into the air. "I have no place here. I'm going to travel, visit some of the places mom loved, maybe I'll find her there." He pulled a lily from it's paper and handed it to her with a shy smile.

"Merry Christmas." His wishes were heartfelt. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thank you." The flower was sweet as she held it up to her face. He nodded and made his way through the crowd. The people moved slightly to allow him through, but when he was gone, loneliness settled over her. Even Francesca's at her side held little comfort. If Casey was alone, that woman, Meg's sister must have never come to Sunset Beach.

Francesca read her mind. "Meg Cummings is married, with a child at her feet and one on the way. Without her love for Ben Evans, she had no reason to leave her home."

"What about Ben?" Olivia wondered as she searched her mind. She would have given anything for Bette's knowledge of gossip and the goings-on. "What horrible things has Gregory done to him?"

Her bitterness brought a chuckle to Francesca's full lips. "Look around you. See with more than your eyes."

Olivia glanced upward. The blue neon sign for the Deep was just flickering to life. It was the first building she had seen without one of the ominous little signs. No mark of Richards Development Corporation was anywhere to be seen. The front door into the brick building was open. It allowed her in. Curiousity drew her around the corner and there, in the center of the room was a beautiful tree.

It was the first sign of Christmas she'd seen that brought light to her heart. Though the streets were beautifully adorned in wreathes and lights, this was the first tree that had been put up with care.

"I'm sorry. We're not ready for the Christmas party yet-" The young woman behind her was sweet and apologetic. Olivia turned and it took her a moment to place the face smiling gently at her. Had she been at her wedding? "This is a private celebration."

That was it. She had been there.

"Then I am sorry. I didn't mean to intrude." Olivia smiled sadly. Her heart was heavier in her chest than it had been on the pier.

"Mommy, mommy!" A small child ran over to Maria's legs, peering out from behind her skirts. "Who's this."

Maria reached down to rub his dark hair and sighed indulgently. "I don't know Benjy."

"Is she lost?"

Olivia had to laugh. "Yes- Yes, I'm afraid so. I'm terribly lost."

"Perhaps we can help you." Ben Evans appeared from the door to the kitchen, his daughter in his arms. "I can unfortunately claim this town as my home."

Benjy ran to his father and then to the table set beside the tree. "I've been lost."

"Yes you have." Ben agreed with his son as he handed the little girl to his wife with a kiss. "I think we all have."

"It's a shame to be lost on Christmas." Maria's face glowed with sympathy. The accident. That horrible boating accident must not have happened.

Francesca clarified as she studied the wings of the angel at the head of the tree with envy. "Gregory wouldn't give him the time off. It's a long and complicated story." She pulled herself up on the counter and watched as Maria settled her daughter into her high chair.

"Doesn't he have a brother?" Olivia whispered under her breath. "An evil one?"

"Derek." Francesca offered as she stretched out along the top of the counter. "But with Gregory undermining his confidence at every turn, Ben's only a moderate success who lives in the shadow of the might of Gregory Richards. There's nothing for Derek to covet. Ben's one of the few who can make the payments on his mortgage, but only just. He bites his tongue at work and does his best to support his family."

"He seems so happy." Olivia's voice was almost too loud. Maria and Ben both turned to her.

"I'm sorry. I just said you seem so happy."

Maria found the comfort of her husband's arm. "It's a miracle he got the day off. Mr. Richards was threatening to make him come in all week."

"Who are you going to see? I'm sure I can give you directions." Ben took a napkin and a pen from the bar.

"Gregory Richards, I'm afraid."

Ben's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I didn't think he had any friends."

Maria fetched another chair from a table nearby and pulled it up. "You'd better have dinner with us. You're going to need the fortification before you take on that man."

Benjy giggled and shook his sister's rattle until she clapped her chubby fingers. "That man..." He mocked his mother. "That man..."

Ben kissed his son's head. "That man is entirely right. You should join us. Even an old friend shouldn't brave the Lion's Den on an empty stomach."

Leaving Ben's little family was more difficult than she imagined. The baby Sabine had the same innocent smile Caitlin had had as a girl. The same impish giggle when her cheeks were tickled. Watching Ben bounce her on his knee reminded her of Gregory. He'd loved being a father with the same passion that burned in Ben's eyes now. Olivia couldn't help wondering what a strange guest she was at their table. The woman in borrowed clothes. She still had her earrings. The wild pearls Gregory had given her surrounded by tiny diamonds.

Maria's eyes were quick, and before Olivia had been careful to keep her hand back by her glass, she had seen her rings. Her wedding band was simple enough, but her engagement ring was obviously far beyond the price of her clothing. It was out of place.

"How do you know Mr. Richards?" Maria asked as the coffee went around the table past the children. "Are you in business with him?"

Laughing as she wiped her mouth politely with her napkin, Olivia heard Francesca chuckling as well behind her. "Oh no, no. We met a long time ago. So long ago it feels like another world entirely. I haven't seen him-" Her eyes stung unexpectedly. She hadn't seen Gregory since he'd knocked her out. The last thing between them before his death was when he'd pushed her away. He'd thrust her aside and went on without her. He hadn't gone very far. Here he was alive. Perhaps it wasn't too late. His heart couldn't be as cold as she feared.

"In what feels like forever."

"And you choose Christmas Eve to visit him?" Ben wondered as he stirred his coffee. "What of your family?"

Maria passed a plate of cookies, careful to keep Benjy's hands from most of them. "Your husband?"

Olivia couldn't keep her grief buried. She wondered if her pain was as etched on her face as it was on her heart. "My husband is dead."

"I'm sorry." Ben's apology hung in the air.

She nodded politely and swallowed the threatening tears. "It seems Gregory and I are both alone this Christmas."

"Hopefully you will not be alone together." Maria's voice held traces of her mother's wisdom. Old wisdom.

"Christmas is the season of hope after all." Olivia stood, pushing in her chair as she smiled. "And I've imposed on you long enough. Thank you for your dinner and your hospitality."

Maria smiled warmly. "It's always nice to host a stranger on Christmas Eve."

Ben took the time to kiss her forehead as he led Olivia to the door. "The Richards building is the center of town. The tallest, brightest, most important looking building in town. Impossible to miss."

Olivia pulled the zipper on her sweatshirt higher to her chin. The air had a new chill in it.

"Will you be all right?" Ben's concern was sweetly comforting.

"Though he's a monster, he's a monster I know." Hope was more difficult to conjure than a smile. "I'll be all right. Merry Christmas."

Francesca slipped through the door just before Ben shut it. "Do you think you still know him? That his heart is not so changed that even you won't recognize him?"

"I love him." Olivia walked faster, hoping Francesca hand't heard the slip in tense.

"You love." Her arm went around her shoulders. "Not loved I see." They turned the corner and it was before them. The mass of steel and glass that was the wicked heart of the town.

The gate was high in front of them, barring the street from the compound beyond. The sun was starting to creep beneath the ocean. Far away, past the end of the pier, Christmas Eve was coming to a close.

"I'm running out of time, aren't I?"

Francesca shrugged off the question. "Time is what you make of it. What you can do in the time you are given is far more important than worrying about how much time you have." She settled on the edge of the sidewalk. "I'm curious how you expect to get in."

Olivia reached up to her ears, removing the pearl earrings as she approached the security officer. "What gift do you think he has for his wife when he works on Christmas Eve for a man like my husband?"

Francesca's eyes widen and she watched in amusement as Olivia worked her trade. The little door to the side of the gate opened. She floated past the guard admiring the earrings.

Olivia's quiet smile held a trace of amusement. "He asked if I was going to kill him."

Francesca tossed her hair back over her shoulders. "And?"

"If I meant to do that, he would have let me in for free." Olivia looked up at the dark tower. High at the top a light gleamed against the dying sunlight. "Who is he? Ben was his protege and here Ben barely tolerates him. Ben worked for him because he had too. He had a family to think of.

"He is what he would have been without you, nothing more." Francesca paused before her lack of a reflection in the perfect glass.

"But how does one person make so much of a difference?" The brass handles of the doors opened without a whisper. The marble floor of the lobby echoed Olivia's lonely footsteps.

"Gregory had his hands in every part of Sunset Beach in your world as well." Francesca waited patiently for the elevator. "His hands are just a bit kinder there."

The light chimed on above them and the elevator doors opened. Olivia tried to sort her mind, but it whirled in too many strange directions.

"He told you once that you taught him to open up. To say what was on his mind."

Olivia could smell his cologne in the car as he reached for her cheek. SHe closed her eyes against the memory but it came anyway.

"Without you, he never learned. His feelings went so deep within him that he forgot they even existed. They festered and fouled his heart until it was as twisted and black as his inner demons believed it to be." The elevator came to a halt before the upper office. Francesca slipped behind Olivia as the doors opened. She'd been looking forward to this encounter.

She swept into the elevator like the force of a storm. Her cell phone was plastered to her ear. She mashed the button to the lobby and groaned in frustration as the elevator continued up instead of taking her down as she wished. Olivia recognized the cut of her suit. It was imported, custom fit.

The woman turned on her like an angry cat. As if it was Olivia's fault she hadn't been paying attention to the indicators above the elevator. "I suppose you're headed all the way up, aren't you?"

Raw fury had no place in this woman's voice. At least not as Olivia had known her. Shock opened her mouth, but the woman had already made her judgement.

"No eleventh hour plea, even on Christmas Eve will save your parent's house, or your husband's business, or whatever paltry little business you intend to inflict upon him." She brushed an imaginary strand of hair out of her face. "You should just turn back now. Whatever you have to say will surely make it worse."

Olivia just stared. The face was familiar, but her voice, her manner, the way she stood like a Queen forced to examine something terrible, none of it was right. Of all the people she had encountered. All the heart's Gregory's miserly ways had hardened, this was the most shocking.

"Bette?"


	3. Mr Richards

She whirled on her angrily. "Mrs. Davis." Bette corrected immediately. "I don't know who you are, or what the hell you think you're doing, but you're way out of line missie."

Olivia took a step back in shock. She didn't even get a chance to defend herself before she was attacked again.

"Now-" Bette's finger pointed down at her. "Just for my own sick curiosity, how in the name of all that is sacred does an urchin like you know my first name?"

Olivia gulped and tried not to let Bette's anger get to her. Francesca circled Bette thoughtfully. "She's not a very nice woman is she? I suppose it's not too surprising. Without a real friend to turn too she never had the courage to get out of her fourth marriage. Little Emily did need a mother after all. Not that her daughter even talks to her anymore. She's never been good enough. Not for her husband, not for her daughter. It's no wonder she hates everyone and everything."

Bette tapped her foot irritably. "I'm waiting-"

Olivia shook her head. "I'm sorry. I-" She paused, trying to come up with a good story. Anything plausible.

Francesca leaned over Bette's shoulder. "You saw her name in the paper once."

Olivia sighed in annoyance and came up with her own story. "You remind me of someone I used to know."

"Keep your reminiscing to yourself." The elevator opened onto the top floor and Bette shoved Olivia out in front of her. "Get a move on, I have reports to turn in."

Olivia's eyes flew to Francesca who was examining a potted plant. "Reports?" She whispered.

"She works for him." Francesca sighed sadly and watched as Bette's posture stiffened. "Accounting. Bette's always been fond of spending money. He lets her. She likes it because she's doing something. Anything that takes her away from the misery of her life."

Olivia was ready to wait until Bette was finished. She expected a brief conversation and standing in Gregory's waiting room gave her some time to think. The plants were lush and expensive. The art on the walls was old, Grecian frescos of war and conquest. Psychological warfare of the oldest kind. Proving to his enemy just how strong he was. Making his visitors wait in the most opulent of surroundings.

Because he could.

Olivia shivered. Bette only took a few moments. The great oak door swung open and Gregory's office yawned in front of her like a cave.

Bette brushed past her rudely, knocking against her shoulder. Olivia turned to Francesca, the angel just looked sad. As if she knew what things were to come.

No secretary called her in. Bette's glare burned into her back as she walked towards the door. Olivia pulled herself together. There was no way to prepare to see him again. Not when he was dead. She'd been to his funeral. She'd watched Annie make a mockery of his like.

And he looked up at her from his desk, Gregory filled his briefcase. He stopped and studied her. It had been twenty-five years since Gregory had looked at her that way.

He was completely the same. His hair was the same length. She know his black suit and nearly patterned tie. She knew the way he titled his head and waited for her to speak.

When she failed, he began for her. "I know I haven't the pleasure of meeting you. As face like yours-" He snapped his briefcase shut. "Is one I'd remember."

Olivia held her gaze as steady as she could with the butterflies in her stomach. Her heart pounded in her throat.

"I'm Gregory Richards."

"Your reputation proceeds you." Olivia's feet brought her towards him. He emerged from behind the desk, his hands slipping into his pockets. "Your name's all over town."

He took it as a complement and pride flashed in his brown eyes. Gregory began to smile and her heart melted in her chest. She'd missed that smile. More than she thought it was possible.

"What am I going to have to do to earn yours?"

"It's not important." Olivia offered as her feet took another step towards him. She wanted to hold him. To crushed him to her chest and confess she'd never been as lost as she'd been without him.

"Perhaps you're right. A face as lovely as yours is beyond the simplicity of a name." He was teasing her, sizing her up. Olivia could feel his eyes on her chest.

"Why do I get the feeling you already know?"

Gregory laughed easily, leaning back against his desk as she called his bluff. "You are Olivia Blake. You appeared mysteriously in town this morning and lost all of your posessions in a nasty mugging incident on the pier." His right hand extended towards her. "I do hope you won't hold that against me."

Electricity shot up her arm and stung her eyes as she shook his hand. "It's hardly your fault."

"I feel a certain responsibility. Sunset Beach is my home."

"All the same-" His eyes bored into her. "You know what-" Looking at his watch for a moment, he smiled up at her. "I haven't had dinner yet, why don't you join me?"

Francesca cooed with interest. "Say yes." She circled him like a hawk circles a rabbit. "He wants you."

Olivia gulped and nearly lost her breath. "I don't have-"

He waved her off. "My treat."

Francesca ran her hands over his shoulders, grinning wickedly as he shivered under her touch. "You don't have anything to wear."

"I don't." Olivia whispered too loudly for him not to hear.

"You don't what?" Gregory's eyes twinkled and his gaze was never off of her. He was truly fascinated by every move she made. "Surely you won't make me spend Christmas Eve alone?"

"Alone?" Olivia's heart went out to him. Her head was so light. "Don't you have family?" She still expected some trophy wife, some tramp that he took to bed and dressed up when he had company.

"No, I'm afraid I don't have any family." Gregory replied sadly as he lifted her hand thoughtfully to his lips. "Why should we be alone tonight when we could share something-" His lips were as hot as she remembered. "Special."

Francesca whistled suggestively and wrapped her hands around his waist. Feeling nothing but a slight chill, Gregory opened the door and waved her out just steps ahead of him. His hand brushed the small of her back and even through her sweatshirt, she could feel every part of his hand. It burned through the fabric.

"You're going to need something to wear." Gregory mused as he turned the little golden key that brought the the express button elevator. He let her in first.

Francesca tripped along, giggling as she settled into a corner of the elevator. "How do you feel about a dead woman's clothes?" She whispered from her place in the back. He's thinking about a dress he bought Alex Mitchum. The one she was supposed to wear the night he proposed. When he finally left his lonely life and found love-"

Olivia shivered in horror and Gregory, thinking it was the cold, set down his briefcase. Thoughtfully removing his suit jacket, he draped it over her shoulders.

"Really is too bad about that plane crash in the African Savannah. He was this close-" She held up her thumb and index finger with a hair of space between them. "To really being happy."

"Excuse me a moment. I need to make some arrangements." While he and his cellular phone disappeared into the quiet lobby, Olivia rounded on her angel. "He wanted to marry Alex?"

"Of course he did. Once her divorce went through, she wanted him. They were-" Francesca leaned close to Olivia's ear. Close enough for her to feel the chill of her presence. "Almost happy, but fate intervened. Seems like Gregory and Alex were never meant to be together. Not in your time. Not in his."

Gregory folded his cell away and smiled at her softly. His eyes were full of a million thoughts, but he never took them off of her face. "Are you sure I don't know you?"

Olivia blushed faintly in spite of herself. "Maybe in another life." Where was the monster? He took her arm and led her to the car waiting for them. Where was the demon who was ready to take over the entire town?

He opened the door to the back seat of the Mercedes with the proper tinted windows. "It's only eight. There's plenty of time to meet you in this one."

He touched her shoulder and time slowed to a crawl. In an instant what she knew and where she was became part of the past. He was hardened, tortured by guilt and loneliness. He was the just the way he was as a young man. Ambitious and lost in the wonder of his own intelligence. She'd gotten through to him once. Olivia favored him with a wistful smile. Perhaps with the magic of Christmas on her side, she'd get to him again.

Gregory clasped the silver necklace around her neck and sighed appreciatively as she turned around. "That's better."

Olivia's hands slipped over red velvet to get to her neck. The dress was exquisite, tighter than she would have chosen, but it was Alex's. It was strange to be wearing a dead woman's dress and stranger still to be sitting down with a dead man. A dead man who knew nothing about her and still watched her as if she were the most fascinating woman in the world.

The necklace was cold around her neck as the silver warmed slowly to her skin. It was heavy, a huge green stone to contrast the red of her dress.

"You didn't have to dress me." She protested softly as he pulled out her chair. "I could have eaten in what I had on."

Gregory laid a towel across his tuxedoed arm as he reached for the green glass bottle on ice in front of him. "I like you dressed in the finest things money can buy." He popped the cork and filled her glass with sparkling wine. "It suits you."

His hand brushed hers as she reached for her glass. Electricity raced up her neck. "Thank you."

"No-" He sank into his chair and studied her across his glass. "Thank you. I thought I'd have to spend another Christmas Eve by myself."

"Are you usually alone?" Olivia watched the bubbles pop on the surface. "You must have family somewhere."

"Would you believe I don't?" His smile was deeply sad. "I haven't another living soul in the world." Gregory finished his glass and filled it again for a toast. "I don't think I've admitted that to anyone, ever, but-"

Francesca toyed with the flames of the candles and watched as the light flickered in both of their eyes.

"There's something special about me." Olivia finished as she raised her glass to him. "To the magic of Christmas."

He drank politely but returned his glass to the air. "To the magic of your eyes."

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?" Olivia dug her fork into her salad and smiled teasing at him over the plates. ""We've only just met."

Gregory ignored his food and watched her lips instead. "Don't you believe in love at first sight Miss Blake?"

"What if I don't?" Olivia reached for the bread and spread butter over the soft surface.

"That would be a waste." Gregory took his first bite of salad as if he had just discovered it was there. "And I hate to see something precious go to waste."

"What's precious about a stranger?" Olivia watched as the server took her empty plate and replaced it with a bowl of steaming soup. "You know nothing about me."

"Maybe that which I do not know intrigues me." Gregory swirled his glass lazily before lifting his soup sp00n.

Francesca settled comfortably on the edge of window and stared out at the sea. "You're the only thing in town his hasn't conquered."

Olivia ignored her, Gregory was staring at her. He caught the elbow of his housekeeper. "Why don't you take the rest of the night off?"

She nodded quickly and disappeared. Gregory circled the table to refill Olivia's champagne. "How could a woman as beautiful as you slip into town without me knowing?"

Her hand trembled as he wrapped her fingers around the fragile flute. "I've only just arrived."

"Why did you come?" His lips were moist and waiting.

Olivia felt the flute slip from her fingers and fall to the table. Champagne hissed as it bubbled away on the tablecloth.

Francesca stared sadly at the spilled drink and shook her head. "It's a waste. That was Dom Perignon..." Turning to Olivia she waited patiently for her answer. "Tell him why. He's been waiting like such a good boy."

"I had to know." His eyes glittered in the candlelight. He was alive and entirely engrossed in her.

"Know what?" His smile was perfect, gentle and full of passionate impatience.

Olivia couldn't speak. She moved without thinking, her hands catching his chin and pulling his lips to hers. She sank into the familiar taste of him and the spicy scent of his aftershave.

To him she was new. Fresh and warm and wholly unknown. No one kissed him like that. His lips had never been the most enthralled part of his body. the tingled of his fingertips had never run away with his mind. Olivia's lips blurred with heaven.

Slowly, Francesca began to clap. The impact of her hands rang through Gregory's private dining room.

Olivia barely heard. Gregory was waiting for her. For a half second he was still trying to find his breath. She watched his face blossom into the rarest kind of smile. He glowed with life. His hands dropped to her knee, sending electricity through up to her hip.

"Just wonderful. You seduce him on your first date." Francesca lifted Gregory's abandoned glass and toasted them both. "Whatever are you going to do for an encore?" She answered her own question as she looked up at the clock. "Only half-past eight, they could still get into a lot of trouble." Smirking at her memories, Francesca wandered into her own past. After a moment she looked skyward and blushed.

"Sorry. I'll try to stay on task a little better."

"What was that for?" Gregory's whisper barely carried over the gentle hiss of champagne.

"Not everything has to have a reason counselor." She turned his knee out of his reach, letting him feel the velvet slip from his fingers.

"You don't have any answers for me." He leaned back in his chair, planning his next move.

Olivia feigned sudden interest in her fish. "Is that the only point of life?" SHe paused and raised the ante. "The search for answers?"

"No, not at all." He tried to follow her example and eat, but it was more difficult than he imagined. "I suppose, it's just-"

She smiled over the candle between them. "You usually have them." Olivia offered gently. "Right at your fingertips."

"Precisely." Gregory took a long sip of champagne, wondering if it was her or the bubbles that were going to his head with such fury. "I understand things in a moment."

She felt his eyes caress her throat. "Including women?"

"Especially women." Softening his expression only made him seem like the lion, feigning to be tame long enough to move in for the kill. "Women want-"

"Your money, your power-" Olivia ran her tongue over her lips thoughtfully. "Your body."

"Money's no object." He shook the bottle of champagne thoughtfully. "Power's a state of mind and no women who wants to use me to get it is going to get very far."

"She has to make it on her own. Be her own person-" He touched her shoulder as he took her plate and exchanged it with the next course. It had the desired effect when she shivered away deliciously.

"Like Alex Mitchum." Olivia had to ask, curiosity burned almost as much as his touch.

"Alex-" He dropped into his chair and studied the sauce on his plate. "She was amazing you know." He searched the coastline as if she would walk into the lights on the beach at any moment. "She could make you feel like she could see into your soul and capture it on film. Everything she did was steeped in life." His voice caught and Olivia's heart stopped with it.

This time she reached for him. Olivia knew all too well how painful it was to lose the love of her life. "You loved her."

"And when she died-"

Olivia came to his rescue again, covered his hand with her smaller one. "Your heart stopped. You felt like everything was gone from the world. Light, air, warmth- you can't breathe, you can't see, everything goes cold."

"And it all comes to an end." Gregory finished as he covered stared down at her hand. Stopping immediately, he lifted her hand up to examine her engagement ring.

"Who gave you this?"

It was all she could do not to give herself away as she stared into his eyes. The deep brown eyes she was so familiar with asked the world of her.

"My husband." Olivia whispered as the pain tightened in her throat as well. "Twenty years ago when he proposed to me."

At her nod, he removed it from her finger. As Gregory moved it closer to the light of a candle, the diamond erupted in a shower of light. "It's uncanny."

He folded the ring back into her hand and left the table abruptly. Calling back his explanation as he went, Gregory hurried into his safe. "You'll understand when you see it, it's remarkable." He returned to the table with a small black box in his hand.

"I can't tell you, how many times I wanted to throw this away. How many times I wanted to destroy everything that reminded me of her-" He pushed the box towards her and opened it, just as she returned her ring to her finger.

"I bought this for Alex-" Gregory opened the box, eyes wide with astonishment.

Olivia couldn't help gasping in surprise. The rings were identical, down to the set of the diamond and the shade of the gold. "Oh my God-"

Francesca broke her silence as she descended on Olivia. "Seems he had a chance at true love after all, too bad that plane went down so tragically. Such a strange accident..."

Olivia's sudden change of expression made Gregory immediately curious, but the quiet knock on the door kept him from pressing her. Wiping his mouth carefully with his napkin, Gregory excused himself.

"I'm sorry, I'll get rid of them."

She barely nodded, unable to pull her eyes away from the ring in her hand and the ring on her finger.

"I guess somethings don't change about a person." Francesca's fingers passed through the ring and Olivia shivered as she made contact with her hand. "He does have exquisite taste in jewelry, after all."

"Caitlin- why don't you come in, I'd love for you to meet someone." Gregory brought his visitor to the table.

Olivia had missed the name, getting up polite she turned around and found herself face to face with her daughter.

The beautiful blond extended her hand politely as Olivia struggled to keep her feet. "It's lovely to meet you. I'm Caitlin Davis-"

"Caitlin is my rising star in my international division. She has a brilliant mind for macro-economics." Gregory rested his hand proudly on her shoulder and she blushed gently.

"Mr. Richards flatters me because he's always been so fond of my mother." Caitlin's smile had the same gentleness Olivia remembered.

"This is Olivia Blake." Gregory introduced with a sweep of his hand. "My mysterious visitor."

"I don't want to take you from your dinner." Caitlin winked at Gregory, not as a daughter, but as an apprentice beginning to understand her mentor's loneliness. "We just came to ask you to come round for dinner tomorrow. Mom and Dad would love to have you."

"Oh-" Olivia shook herself out of her reverie. "I'm sorry, who are your parents?"

Francesca leaned in. "You're going to love this."

"Bette and Roger Davis, my father and Mr. Richards have never seen eye to eye-"

Gregory grinned playfully. "She means to say I have no patience for head-shrinkers."

"But Mr. Richards and Bette have been friends for years." Caitlin had no idea how wrong it sounded to hear her address Gregory that way.

Olivia swallowed. "Old friends."

Gregory returned to her side, wrapping his hand around her waist. "Exactly." He nodded to Caitlin. "I'll be there tomorrow."

"Great!" Caitlin looked at the table and the two of them with a wistful smile. "Looks like you're ready for the evening anyways." She turned to go. "Sean and Emily will be thrilled."

"Sean and Emily?" Olivia repeated as calmly as she could.

"My little brother and sister." Caitlin answered with a sigh. "I suppose they're not so little now that they're in college, but they'll always be little to me."

Gregory kissed her cheek. "Merry Christmas Caitlin."

For her part, the younger women threw her arms around his shoulders in a fierce hug. "Merry Christmas Mr. Scrooge." She reached for Olivia's hand. "It was lovely to meet you, take good care of him tonight. It's a good night to meet someone special."

Olivia let Gregory lead her back to her chair without a word. when he poured more champagne, she drank it down quickly. Francesca was at her side.

"Funny how she looks so much like him, isn't it?"

Gregory excused himself to fetch the next course and Olivia had a moment to catch her breath.

"She doesn't know?" Caitlin had seemed so happy. So content with her family, suddenly it made sense. Bette's frigid demeanor was an expression of her inner misery. Twenty years of working beside the man she was obviously in love with, bearing two of his children, and living a lie every day thereafter.

"Bette could never tell her. It would have made it back to her husband, it would have ruined her marriage." Francesca sighed heavily. "And she needed that marriage."

"Gregory had moved on. Fallen for Alex-" Olivia's mind raced, even through the alcohol.

"And Bette couldn't have that." Francesca leaned close enough to the candle for it to sputter in the chill of her presence. "Ask him who else was on that trip with Alex.'

Olivia stared at the forlorn engagement ring it's little black box in front of her. Her chest had never been this tight. "Oh my-" She didn't have to finish. Francesca was nodding and everything else fell into place.

"Oh God-" Olivia covered her mouth in shock. "She-"

"I'm afraid she did." Francesca watched the door Caitlin had disappeared through. "If she couldn't have him-"

Gregory laid the last plate in front of her with wink. "I know even mystery women have a weakness for chocolate."

Staring up at him, Olivia felt her stomach fall away into a pit of despair. She couldn't go back to the harmless flirtation. As wrong as the world she left had been, this was hell. The clock on the wall started to chime the eleventh hour. Time was nearly gone-

Dragging her finger across the perfect chocolate swirl on her plate, Olivia lifted that trembling finger to her lips and licked it clean. "What if I have a greater weakness for something else-"

She caught his hand as he reached for her shoulder. Olivia pushed him back and conquered him, crushing his lips with hers. He'd lost his chance at love. He was destroying the town around him in the desperate, empty search for money that could never fill the void in his heart.

But tonight, for the rest of this surreal night, neither of them had to be alone.


End file.
